2012 Skate Canada - Point of View

Skate Canada, which was held this weekend in Windsor, Ontario, is the second Grand Prix
event of the season. It was an interesting competition with some
excellent skating.

The
event I preferred by far, as was the case at Skate America, has been
ice-dancing. Here all the programs, both the short dance and the
free dance, were original and constructed to the music, and the
skaters’ attention is focused on its interpretation and expression.
Besides, in ice dancing we can still appreciate the beauty of deep
long edges, which have become rare both in single and pair skating
even among the top skaters, due to the unbelievable number of turns
required by the rules to get the highest levels. Perhaps it would be
a good idea for the ISU to add long and deep edges as a “feature” to
get level 4 in step sequences!!!! It is very important, to me, at
least, that the whole event is enjoyable and pleasant to watch, from
the weakest programs to the best, and not for just a few, as is the
case now in the other disciplines, where mistakes and falls play a
major role even among the top world competitors.

Fantastic was
the “Battle
of the Carmens”, as we can call it, between Anna Capellini and Luca La Notte (ITA) and the World Champions TessaVirtue
and Scott Moir (CAN). It
is just amazing that both these couples have chosen the same kind of
music, but their interpretation was quite different. More
passionate, sensuous and captivating was that of the Italians, where
Anna really interprets Carmen as she is in the opera by Bizet.

The
Canadians, in my opinion, although fantastic from a technical point
of view, with some innovative lifts and spins, skated to the music
from Carmen, but they were not representing Carmen and Don José.
They did show passion and emotion, but for me this was just another
love story with a sad end with Carmen’s music playing in the
background. There is no doubt that the Canadians technically were
superior but from the artistic point of view, I must say that for me
Anna and Luca were the best. Anyhow, I found them both breathtaking.

The second best
event, in my opinion, was the men’s. The victory of Javier Fernandez
is a historic achievement since it is the first time that a Spanish
skater has won a Grand Prix event. Fernandez was first both in the
short and the free programs. His free program, skated to Charlie
Chaplin, although not flawless, was easily mastered, very appealing
and amusing. The music suits him perfectly. I really enjoyed it.
Excellent was also Patrick Chan’s program performed to “La Bohème”.
Chan’s elegance on the ice is beyond question, but there are still
too many mistakes. Let’s hope that he will be able to master his
jumps later in the season. The bronze medal went to Nobunari Oda
from Japan.

The ladies were
unpredictable as usual. Definitely too many errors both in short and
free. Kaetlyn Osmond, only 16, from
Canada
was the surprise winner. It was her first participation in a senior
Grand Prix. She is a very promising, beautiful young lady. Akiko
Suzuki and Kanako Murakami, both representing
Japan, performed good and elegant
free programs, placing second and third.

In pairs, the
performance of the four-time world champions Aliona Savchenko and
Robin Szolkowy did not convince me. First of all, I was shocked by
the costumes chosen both for the short and the free programs. To me
they are just clownish, more suitable for a show in a circus than
for skating competition, unless they are portraying Harlequin, which
is not the case. As a matter of fact, there is really no
relationship between these fancy colored costumes and the music of
their free program, which is “Bolero” by Ravel. And, apart from the
bad taste, I even wonder whether they comply with ISU Rule 500 on
costumes, which states that ”Men must wear trousers: no tights are
permitted“.

“Bolero”
obviously brings to memory the fantastic and unique interpretation
of this piece of music by Torvill and Dean at the 1984 Olympic Games
in Sarajevo, when they received a shower of 6.0 marks in
Artistic Impression. So it is always a challenge for anybody to
choose this piece of music. However, besides the costumes, the
interpretation of this piece of music did not fit, either. “Bolero”
is very rhythmical all the way through, and therefore definitely
more suitable for ice dancing than for a free program where jumps,
lifts, throws and spins must be included. And these elements can
hardly be performed as measured steps to the music.

Second and third
placed were Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford and Italians Stefania Berton
and Ondrej Hotarek. As an Italian, allow me to
congratulate and thank Stefania and Ondrej for their excellent
performance.

We look forward
now to the Cup of China and the Trophée Bompard in
Paris.